Traditions
by Darkchilde
Summary: Jamie and Catie's Christmas presents to each other...and of course, the ever present misletoe


Disclaimer: Well, Jamie Waite, Catie Roth, and all other characters in the following fanfic do not belong to me. (Though I really wish Jamie did...*grin*) Anyway, this is just something that has been kicking around in my skull for a while, and I finally got the time to put it down on paper. *grin* It is SERIOUSLY foofy--I mean, SERIOUSLY. If you want angst, then might I suggest Madison Graves fic "Prologue"? (I don't know if that is the actual title, but that's what it is up under.) (hehehe...See, I'm hoping that if I give Madison plugs, the next part of the story will be out faster, and I can't wait to find out what happens!) Okay, enough of my babling, on with the story! Without further ado, I present to you...  
  
Traditions  
  
"Blessed silence." Catie Roth breathed to herself, flopping down on the couch and streching out as far as her five foot three frame would let her.   
  
The rest of her family had gone off to her father's office Christmas party, but she had plead off, claiming a sick headache. Her mother, who was always after her to change her entire appearance, was more then willing to let her stay home. And that had been just fine by Catie.   
  
Catie looked out the corner of her eye, at the tall pine tree standing in the corner, already surrounded by brightly wrapped gifts with shiny bows. She smiled, and sat up, looking at the twinkling lights of the tree with a quiet since of awe.   
  
Ever since she had been a little girl, Christmas had been her favorite time of year. She told everybody that asked why it was because she got lots of presents, but that wasn't the real reason.   
  
She had always sort of held the holiday in awe; everything about it was just so...special, for some reason. It had it's own songs, it had it's own tradtions, it had it's own...everything. It was like a completely different world, starting from right after Thanksgiving to New Year's Day.  
  
Catie laughed out loud at her own musings, before lying back down on the couch, determined to enjoy the solitude why she had the chance. Because with all of her sisters and brothers and their kids and husbands and wives coming next week, it was all she was going to get anytime soon.   
  
The last day of school had been today, and it had been a complete blow off day at that. She hadn't bothered going to any classes; she'd just hung out with Jamie and the rest of her friends in the hallway heading toward the library all day.   
  
Catie, lying in the postion that she was, was given a very clear view of the decoration that her mother had hung, giggling, over the doorway between the living room and the foyer every year that Catie could possibly remember. The misletoe.   
  
"Always gotta have that, right Mom?" Catie asked thin air, smirking at her mother's rather childish tradition.   
  
A knock on the door startled her out of her reviere of the offending misletoe, and she rose from the couch, ready to snap the head off of whoever happened to be on the other side of the door and dared to disturb her peace. She threw open the door...and was surprised to see Jamie Waite standing on the other side of the door, his hands jammed in the pockets of his black leather jacket.   
  
"Jamie...what are you doing here?" Catie asked, shaking off her surprise. Jamie fidgited on the step for a minute, before finally answering her.  
  
"I was on my way to work, and I wanted to stop by and give you your Christmas present." He explained, pulling on of his hands out of his pocket to reveil a tiny box, wrapped in gold paper. Catie blinked in surprise, and then smiled.  
  
"Thanks. Oh! Hang on...can you come in for a minute? I've got yours upstairs." Catie asked him, turning and heading toward the room she shared with two of her younger sisters.  
  
She grabbed the long, flat box that she had carefully wrapped, then hid, and hurried back downstairs and handed it to her friend. He grinned at her, and took the box, turning it over and over in his hands.   
  
"What is it?" Jamie asked her, looking up at her.   
  
"Open it and find out." Catie suggested, rolling her eyes and smirking at him.   
  
"Okay. But then you gotta open yours." Jamie told her. He carefully peeled off the paper--more carefully then she had ever seen any guy unwrap a present before. But of course, she was use to her younger brothers, who ripped through any and all presents they got like they would be taken away if they didn't find out what was in it that very second. Once the paper was off, Jamie lifted the box top, and smiled brightly. "Cool..." He breathed, lifting out Catie's gift.   
  
It was a black leather guitar strap, with a silver ankh emblazed across it. Even the ends of the strap, where you hooked it to the guitar, were black, even though they were glossy. The ankh seemed to glow in the light, and Catie grinned, glad that he liked it.   
  
"What's the symbol mean?" Jamie asked her, tracing it gently with senstive fingers. Catie grinned.  
  
"It's an ankh. It's the ancient Eygption symbol for life. I thought you might like it." Catie shrugged.  
  
"I do. It's way better then my old one. Thank you." Jamie told her softly. She smiled, and looked down, suddenly embaressed.   
  
To give herself something to do, she unwrapped the tiny box that Jamie had given her. Inside was a black velvet box, the kind that you got in a jewerly store. Catie looked up at Jamie and lifted an eyebrow.   
  
"Jewerly huh?"   
  
"Hey, according to my sources, it's hard to go wrong with jewerly," Jamie chuckled.   
  
"Well, can I return it if I don't..." Catie trailed off, as she opened the box. Inside, nestled in black velvet, was a golden ring. The gold had been twisted and shaped into that of two hands holding a heart with a crown set on top of it.  
  
"If you don't what?" Jamie asked, a smile in his voice. Catie looked up from the breathtaking ring and smiled.  
  
"I love it, okay? What is it, and where did you find it?" She asked, taking the ring out of the box, and slipping on to her finger, the bottom of the heart pointing downward.  
  
"Well, my sister is really into Celtic stuff. So, she dragged me into that Celt store in the mall one day, and I got to looking around and I spotted that. I thought that it might be something that you would like, so I bought it. I showed it to Molly when we got home, and she told me that it was called a claddagh." Jamie explained. He rolled his eyes, and smiled, embrassed, before continuing his story. "Of course, then she told me what it meant."   
  
"The ring? What is it, like a Celtic engagement ring or something?" Catie asked, smirking.  
  
"Got it in one, Catie." Jamie chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "But she said that you could wear it with the heart pointing down, and that meant that you were still single. You were it with the heart pointed toward you when your in love."   
  
"Good thing. I wanna wear it, but I don't want Celtic people thinking I'm engaged to you or anything." She thought out loud.  
  
"Yeah, that might be bad." Jamie agreed. "Anyway, she told me what the symbols mean, too. The hands mean friendship, and the crown is loyalty and the heart is...umm..."  
  
"Love?" Catie finished for him, smirking at his discomfort.   
  
"Uh, yeah." Jamie mumbled.   
  
"Well, thanks. I think it's cool." Catie told him softly. Jamie smiled back at her, his dark eyes glowing.  
  
"I'm glad."  
  
They stood their for a second, lost in each others eyes, waiting for the other one to move. Catie was the first one to break the staring contest, her dark eyes widening as she realized where they happened to have been standing through their entire conversation. She looked up, hoping that she was wrong, and happier then she should have been about being right, and then winced.   
  
Jamie followed her gaze, and she heard his slight snort of laughter. "Looks like we got caught under the mislotoe, huh?"   
  
"Good thing that nobodies here to make us adhere to that...um...stupid tradition..." Catie muttered, looking down at her feet.   
  
"Uh...yeah..." Jamie agreed, shifting a bit uneasily.   
  
"But...uh...if we break it...I'll...umm...I'll feel...uh...weird for the rest of the...uh...night." Catie stuttered, trying to make her words come out clearer.   
  
"Yeah, me too." Jamie spoke up, far more quickly then she had anticipated.   
  
Catie looked up into his eyes for a second, and held her breathe, wondering if he was really going to...  
  
His mouth captured hers quickly, and held for a second, and then two, then three seconds. Catie melted against him, grasping his leather jacket in her hands, and leaning into the kiss as far as she was able, a tidal wave of emotion sweeping through her.   
  
When the gentle kiss came to it's natural end, the twosome backed a few steps away from each other and simply stared at the other one for a long second. Catie was the first one to recover her voice.   
  
"Uh...wow?" She asked, chewing on her bottom lip.  
  
"Yeah..." Jamie whispered, shifting nervously. "That was...umm...nice..."  
  
"Yeah..." Catie laughed nervously, wondering just what the hell was going on. They stood their for another second, before Jamie started, and looked down at his watch.  
  
"Listen, I gotta go...I'm already late as it is..." Jamie told her, his eyes never leaving her face.   
  
"Yeah, I understand. I'll...umm...I'll see you around?" Catie asked, as she walked him to the door. Jamie flashed her his heartbreaking smile, and Catie managed not to melt enough to smile back.  
  
"Count on it. Later."   
  
"Bye." Catie called after him, watching him run down the driveway, hop on his bike and speed off. Only when she couldn't hear the motorcycle anymore did she close the door and lean against it, sighing softly. Chewing her lip, she asked no one in particular "What just happened here?"   
  
Her eyes fell on the ring on her finger, and she pulled it off, examining it more closly. After a few more minutes, she put it back on--the bottom of the heart pointed towards her.   
  
  
  



End file.
